Imagine my quandary as I leave my Penn Quarter abode for an extended weekend to fly across the country to California. "Going home", right? I suppose; it's a big state though, and same language aside, San Francisco is no San Bernardino. Ya know? And when I head back on Tuesday, guess what? Going home. When I first return from abroad and land to go through customs in Miami - yup, home. And I've never spent 24 straight hours in Miami... therefore, my country is home! I suppose if I went to the moon, Shanghai would be home, and I've never even been there. "Ni hao! Wo meiguoren!" Actually, I know that's Mandarin, but whatever; my Shanghainese is rusty.
Sooo, obviously everywhere is not home. That has to be true, but there are default homes and there are homes that are a conscious project. We will always miss the food, the customs, the sights, and the smells of a place we love. Hopefully we, too, are missed, and that, definitely is part of the allure. But, that could include a number of locations spanning the globe. The home you choose as your actual residence is central to an active purpose. It is neither a predicament nor a destination; it is a base of operations. It should be a place of solace, yet it should be a source of inspiration. It is a reflection of you, yet it does not define you. We think of home as a finite boundaried existence, however I believe that where I live should never confine; it should provide. It should provide for our purpose... wherever that is.
1 comment:
Well said, Mark, and in resonance with and accordingly stirring me to recall a similar sentiment as expressed by Rush drummer - and teenage icon - Neil Peart when commenting on the song 'YYZ':
"There are parts of that song that are semi-evocative of the feelings that are engendered when you are going to the airport to leave. You are sort of feeling edgy and tense because you are having to leave home and go to work, and you are thinking that you are half at home and half away. It's a very transitional period, and you always have a sense of infinite possibilities at the airport. You can change your mind and fly anywhere in the world, and all of a sudden, you are not in Toronto any more, you are in the world. An airport really should not be said to be (in) a city, because it never is. It's always a crossroad. And that of course is a big part of the song. We tried to work a lot of the exotic nature of the airport in there. And the big sappy instrumental bridge in the middle that is really orchestrated, really emotional, really rich, is of course again half symbolising the tremendous emotional impact of coming home."
Another dot connected in the experience that is my life.
Oh, and by the way, you look like a news correspondent in the pic with the Capitol in the background.
Peace...and welcome home.
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